The first round of neighbourhood community infrastructure levy (NCIL) funding has been allocated, with a fantastic response from both the panel made up of volunteer residents and the number of applications received from local organisations.

The NCIL is a proportion of the fee the council charges developers when they are building new developments, to make sure any developments benefit communities across the borough.

The money is usually used to fund local neighbourhood schemes, such as community projects and environmental improvements, with projects being assessed against the themes of our Borough Manifesto.

The deadline for community groups to bid for up to £10,000 each was in late February. Recommendations on who got funded, was then decided by a resident panel – made up of a cross section of people from Barking and Dagenham, after invitation letters were sent to a random selection of 1,000 residents on the electoral register. This was a fantastic opportunity for the community to be involved in making recommendations on where this money goes in the borough, by being part of a panel that the voluntary organisations present to.

Twenty-four groups applied to the fund and 22 of those groups presented their project ideas to the panel as part of a series of “dragon’s den” style sessions. 

The panel awarded £133,000 to 15 local projects across the borough, 13 of these groups have now happily accepted the funding. The winning projects range from health and wellness sessions for older residents to knife crime awareness programmes and boxing classes for young people.

 

An awards evening was held with the resident panel to thank them for the many hours they dedicated to the funding process and the importance placed on their role in this brand-new process.

This was a wonderful chance for good causes in the borough to benefit from the funds that have been generated through the neighbourhood community infrastructure levy.

We are determined that everyone benefits from growth in our borough, with nobody left behind.

It’s fantastic that projects across our community are benefiting from this funding and that residents have been involved in selecting those projects.

Cllr Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement said: “This was a wonderful chance for good causes in the borough to benefit from the funds that have been generated through the neighbourhood community infrastructure levy.

“We are determined that everyone benefits from growth in our borough, with nobody left behind.

“It’s fantastic that projects across our community are benefiting from this funding and that residents have been involved in selecting those projects.”

The next round of NCIL funding will be open towards the end of July, further information will be announced soon.